French Officer Charged With Selling State Secrets For Bitcoin

A police officer from the French internal security service Direction Générale de la Sécurité Intérieure (DGSI) was arrested for allegedly selling confidential information over the dark web in exchange for bitcoin.

According to local pulication Le Parisien, the unnamed officer was taken into custody last week in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, after allegedly peddling economic information and potentially falsifying administrative documents. Citing a source close to the investigation, the pulication said that the suspect had been working with members of organized crime groups and specialists in economics looking for sensitive business information. No link to terrorism has been established.

The French national judicial police, which is responsible for investigating and fighting serious crime, first discovered the leaks. DGSI agents then used the suspect’s personal code to track his online activities. It is still unclear how much information was sold or how much the suspect made in bitcoin.

Within the DGSI, certain data are classified as “confidential defense” or “secret defense.” Violation by state agents are punishable by up to seven years of imprisonment and a fine in the region of 100,000 euros ($115K USD).